1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a fluorinated ester containing a trifluoromethyl group and more particularly to a process for producing a fluorinated ester containing a trifluoromethyl group, in which 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-halogenated ethane is esterified by a specified carboxylic acid salt, dicarboxylic acid salt or dicarboxylic acid salt having an ether-bonding in molecule using a .gamma.-butyrolactone solvent.
1,1,1-Trifluoro-2-halogenated ethane is useful as a raw material of various fluorine-containing compounds. However, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-chloroethane (CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Cl) or 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-bromoethane (CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Br), a class of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-halogenated ethanes is extremely tough in C--Cl bonding or C--Br bonding and one may encounter much difficulty to hydrolyze them to synthesize 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,846 a process for preparing 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, in which CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Cl is reacted with an alkali metal salt of acetic acid in a solvent having hydroxyl groups, such as ethylene glycol. However, it hardly seems that this process is satisfactory from an industrial view point, because the reaction temperature is high to cause a thermal degradation of glycols constituting the solvent, a corrosion of structural materials of the reaction vessel and further to result in an occurrence of side reactions and so on with the product formation.
It is considered that the following two step reactions take place to give CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 OH in the reactions of the above mentioned U.S. patent, where CH.sub.3 COOK is used as an example: ##STR1## It is also considered that the esterification reaction of the (1) equation is the rate determing step while the (2) reaction rapidly proceeds.